Are there any games that I can play with only a limited knowledge of Japanese?

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Josh7289

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Well, yes...There are plenty of import-friendly games that have minimal Japanese text or a lot of English text, but I'm talking about games that actually do have a lot of Japanese text, but not so difficult that I'd basically need to be fluent in the language to understand them.

You see, because I've been taking Japanese classes for a little over a year now (you could say my comprehension is somewhere between JLPT levels 4 and 3), I really want to kind of push myself further and start playing some games in Japanese. I guess games that use only the most elementary kanji, or have no kanji at all, would be the most preferable.

I know the Pocket Monsters series' text is always kana-only, at least for the main series...And I remember reading that Shenmue has a kana-only option, though that game would still be out of my league. But games like Pocket Monsters are made to be playable by kids anyway, so I feel like with a bit of effort I'd be able to play them pretty well.

Now then, besides the one(s) I've mentioned, are there any other (recent) good Japanese games that may be comprehendible to me? I say "recent" because I know most Famicom-era and earlier games were mostly kana-only, but that doesn't necessarily mean I'd be able to understand them...

And I say "good" for obvious reasons. :)
 
Well, there are ways to check out old popular Japanese games like Pokemon before you order them. Emulators are your friend here. In any case, if you're close to 3 you should be able to trot through Pokemon at least with a dictionary on hand for doubtful words.
 
[quote name='looploop']Well, there are ways to check out old popular Japanese games like Pokemon before you order them. Emulators are your friend here. In any case, if you're close to 3 you should be able to trot through Pokemon at least with a dictionary on hand for doubtful words.[/quote]
Yeah, I was just messing around on the official Japanese Pokémon websites, registering an account and whatnot, and had no problems with it with a dictionary at hand (well, technically, Rikaichan and Denshi Jisho, but whatever :cool:).

[quote name='tangytangerine']Fighting & Puzzle games usually only have a little wording in the games. So those two genres will be the easiest to play.[/quote]
Well, I kind of want to avoid that, since I'm trying to read as much Japanese as possible and test my skills to improve myself and my level of understanding of the language, natch. ;)



But anyway, thanks for the help so far, and if anyone else can chime in, please do so.
 
I'm going to suggest the import of SOTN, either Saturn or PS. I think in game with dialogue running it's got Hiragana or Katakana above the Kanji for those that don't know it. Also any Kanji you're likely to have issue with will just be enemy names or weapons you're purchasing.
Why not some regular text based RPG's, turn based? I mean yeah they have Kanji but the window stops and requires another button press for the next one. I'm also going to suggest you pick up the original version of Skies on the Dreamcast as it's suppose to be quite raunchy as compared to the U.S. version and Gamecube version in both Japan and the U.S.
 
Hey, thanks for all the suggestions, Sarang01! I'll just go through them one by one:

Symphony of the Night -- I don't know...I looked up some videos of the Japanese version on YouTube, and didn't see any furigana in the text. :whistle2:?

Oh, but I've never played this game before (shame on me, I guess)...So when I came across some videos of the English version... Well, let's just say that you can imagine my reaction to the English voice acting. :lol:

But yeah, if you could look around and find some sort of information about furigana in the game, that'd be great... But somehow I doubt it's there, since I imagine it'd be rather difficult to fit both kanji and furigana on such a low resolution image and still have it be readable. :whistle2:?

RPGs in general -- Yeah, I have no problem with them, if I'm able to read them. Most RPGs have kanji, or kanji beyond the first set or two that are taught in Japanese schools. If a game was limited to just those beginning kanji, or if it had no kanji at all, I'd probably be able to make my way through it (which is why, after I left the thread last night, I decided that I'm going to buy Pocket Monsters Platinum, which comes out this Saturday in Japan).

And even though I'd technically have as much time as I'd need to read through each text box in most RPGs, the problem is still the kanji. Looking up a kanji by radicals (to look up a new word from an RPG with a lot of kanji) takes a much longer time, at least for me, than simply typing in some kana combination in Denshi Jisho (to look up a new word from an RPG that uses no kanji, or only uses a limited set of kanji).

...You know what I mean?

Skies of Arcadia -- My absolute favorite RPG ever, and one of the best game experiences I've ever had... :D And as much as I'd love to play the original Japanese version, I just can't do it now (though I plan to eventually). I just don't know enough of the language yet... :whistle2:|
 
It might be too difficult for you, but in Zelda: Phantom Hourglass you can tap on the kanji and it will give you the reading.

If you want an easier way to look up kanji, you might want to consider buying Kanji Sonomama Rakubiki Jiten for the DS. You can look up kanji by writing it on the touch screen.
 
Josh it depends how big your TV screen is as that Hiragana or Katakana is displayed right above the Kanji. Where are you in Joyo Kanji? The first 100 or what? I assume you already easily know the Kanji for month, year, day, male, female, etc. If you ask me most Westerners should at least consider learning a few Kanji before they visit Japan. Granted it's good to really know some getting around phrases but knowing a good bit of Kanji they might be able to stumble around a bit.
Yeah I really need to get into learning all that Kanji. I took Japanese then put it down. -_- I want to finish learning that as well as Korean, then Swahili and Hebrew. I'm also thinking about learning Ainu. The clicking language I'm very intrigued by as well.
edit: Have you considered getting one of those Kanji dictionaries for the DS to help get through more Kanji heavy stuff?
 
I think Wild Arms Alter Code F has all the Kanji in Hiragana or Katakana above the word. Another plus is that the Japanese version has the full voice acting
 
[quote name='Jack']It might be too difficult for you, but in Zelda: Phantom Hourglass you can tap on the kanji and it will give you the reading.

If you want an easier way to look up kanji, you might want to consider buying Kanji Sonomama Rakubiki Jiten for the DS. You can look up kanji by writing it on the touch screen.[/quote]
Both of those suggestions are very interesting and helpful. But, while the kanji app might be pretty useful to me even now, I think they're both still at a higher level than what I'm comfortable with at this point.

It seems like, mostly, things written to be readable by kids (like Pokémon) would be best for me right now. ;)

[quote name='Sarang01']Josh it depends how big your TV screen is as that Hiragana or Katakana is displayed right above the Kanji.[/quote]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVSVKFa_8oE
I'm really not seeing any furigana in SotN JP version. :whistle2:# Unless it has to be enabled as an option...?

[quote name='Sarang01']Where are you in Joyo Kanji? The first 100 or what? I assume you already easily know the Kanji for month, year, day, male, female, etc. If you ask me most Westerners should at least consider learning a few Kanji before they visit Japan. Granted it's good to really know some getting around phrases but knowing a good bit of Kanji they might be able to stumble around a bit.
Yeah I really need to get into learning all that Kanji. I took Japanese then put it down. -_- I want to finish learning that as well as Korean, then Swahili and Hebrew. I'm also thinking about learning Ainu. The clicking language I'm very intrigued by as well.
edit: Have you considered getting one of those Kanji dictionaries for the DS to help get through more Kanji heavy stuff?[/quote]
Right now, from what my class lessons have covered, I "officially" know 96 kanji. They seem to be taken from various grades in the kyouiku kanji, but mostly from the first and second grades. I can also recognize a little bit more than those 96, but I haven't "officially" studied them yet.

If you want to know exactly which kanji I've studied, they're the first 96 in the Genki textbook's teaching order.


As a side note, I've been talking about "Denshi Jisho" in this thread, but I should clarify that what I mean by that is http://www.jisho.org/, which calls itself "Denshi Jisho".


Anyway, keep the suggestions coming! I really appreciate all the help so far. :)




EDIT 9/9/08:

[quote name='62t']I think Wild Arms Alter Code F has all the Kanji in Hiragana or Katakana above the word. Another plus is that the Japanese version has the full voice acting[/quote]

Thanks. I looked around a bit, and it seems like all of the PS2 (but not PSP) Wild ARMs games have furigana. Not sure about the games in the series on other platforms, though...

And while looking around, I also found out that Metroid Fusion has an option to display its game text either with kanji, or in kana only. Not sure what the situation's like with other Metroid games, though...



But regardless, the thing is, again...Even if a game only has kana or even if it only uses a limited set of kanji, that's still no guarantee that I'd be able to read it well. Certain grammar structures, certain vocabulary, etc...I just may not have the ability to understand them yet. It's for that reason that I'm mostly interested in, basically, "kids'" games at this point, like Pokémon.



So, I need more suggestions like Pokémon. That is, if you know of any other games written to be understood by kids, but that can also be enjoyed by adults, please suggest them. :)

And once more, thanks for all the help so far! :mrgreen:
 
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